Hi,

Does anyone have experience of the Urika II that they can share?

BEst regards

Hans

Hopefully you'll get some responses, but I'm not sure there's many Exaktists on here. Perhaps try the Linn section of HifiWigwam?

I'm using an Urika II. It was a worthwhile upgrade from Urika I, I felt. The II is a bit "more of everything". It's been a while since the update, but as I remember it, everything felt more real; more body and definitively more tuneful.

I do have a few before/after clips I could upload, but they are a bit hard to use for a direct comparison, due to a difference in level. The Urika II has a slightly lower default output level, to avoid clipping on some really loud records.

I'm using Urika II into a KDS/3 (in an otherwise passive system) and can echo teatime's comments. It's definitely from the same stable as the original Urika but is better in all ways, both tune and 'hifi'.
I feel II is better than the original by a fair margin.

Mick

Please be aware that this comparison can be made in several ways.

If you compare Urika 1 that is converted to digital (as in a DSM) with Urika 2, you will get a completely different experience than if you compare Urika 1 into an analogue preamp (i.e. no digital conversion) with Urika 2 (digitized vinyl).

Of course every demo is done in the first way.

I thought the UII a definite improvement compared to the Urika (with Chord Sarum Super Aray) in my all-Exakt Akubarik system with KEDSM.

There may be more Exaktists lurking around here than Sunbeamgls thinks :)

anachronid wrote: ↑2018-12-17 15:34 I thought the UII a definite improvement compared to the Urika (with Chord Sarum Super Aray) in my all-Exakt Akubarik system with KEDSM.

There may be more Exaktists lurking around here than Sunbeamgls thinks :)

I also thought the Urika 2 an improvement when the comparison against Urika 1 was done through my dealer's Klimax exakt system.

What I need to hear is how it sounds when fed via my ADS/3 into Sagatun Monos, compared with Urika 1 direct into the Monos.

Thanks for all the input so far.

I currently use a Naim Superline/Supercap DR into a Naim system, so not Exakt. The LP12 is fitted with Keel, Radikal, Aro and a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum.
For streaming I use a KDS (latest model) so I can use this in conjunction with the Urika II.

I have heard the improvement brought by the Urika II in comparison to the Urika I in an Exakt system, but as has been notet, this is different from my situation.

Fredrik, can you elaborate on your experience?

Any further thoughts appreciated.

Best regards

Hans

I have never enjoyed the sound of a digitized LP12. I think it looses its unique flow.

As all the demonstrations have been between digitized early and digitized later, I wanted to point that out. With no digitization, it sounds completely different.

HansW wrote: ↑2018-12-18 15:39 I currently use a Naim Superline/Supercap DR into a Naim system, so not Exakt. The LP12 is fitted with Keel, Radikal, Aro and a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum.
For streaming I use a KDS (latest model) so I can use this in conjunction with the Urika II.

I have heard the improvement brought by the Urika II in comparison to the Urika I in an Exakt system, but as has been noted, this is different from my situation.

Any further thoughts appreciated.

Hans,
The worst I have ever heard my LP12 in 34 years was when it was once played through an Exakt 350 system. The system was set-up by Linn reps, specifications re-confirmed by other Linn (Lejonklou also) dealers, and manually adjusted (and improved) by me and Tom O'Keefe. I used that system to compare two LP12 plinths; a stock Linn cherry to my Woodsong refurbished Linn rosewood.

When I said worst, I mean terrible. That night when I took my refinished/rebuilt LP12 and plinth home, I was blown away by how much better my simple Naim 42/active 140s hi-fi replayed it compared to that digitized Linn system, and how fantastic the refurbished plinth sounded in my own home.

Tom and I later played around with the settings in the digital realm that day and we confirmed digital has certain advantages and mostly disadvantages. The bottom line as David Neel has asserted is you must compare in your own system.

Ron The Mon
Needle-Freak

For 7 months now I've been listening to my Klimax LP12 with Urika II and I have to say that it's the best result I've ever achieved in 38 years with LP12 replay. Previously I had listened 5 years with a Urika I.

If there is a problem in the Exakt system, it is in my opinion not the digitization, but the misadjusted Space Optimisation.
Frequently I do installations for my local dealer, visiting customers at their homes. In almost all cases, the music reproduction without SO is more musical. Even though the customer has already reduced the depth of the dips calculated by the SO, music playback is usually less musical than without SO.
Some have also tried the method of PaulSurround, but without convincing result.

My method for setting the SO (Version1) in short "Minimal SO":
Before starting, make sure that the placement of the equipment is optimal, that all torques are well adjusted, so that errors in this range can be ruled out.

To find out at which frequencies there are disturbing room modes, I use a tone generator (for example: http://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/).
I proceed as follows:
I choose a piece of music with little bass (for example a female singer with guitar accompaniment). I am looking for the best place for the loudspeakers when the SO is switched off until a very musical result is achieved.
Then I enter all room data in the SO (Version1) and let Konfig calculate the room modes.
Then I take the laptop with me to the optimal listening position.
Start Songcast, Volume to about 50, so the speakers will not be damaged!
Start the tone generator, start with 20 Hz and go on step by step to 90 Hz. I only use my ears! The volume of the sine tone should now increase evenly. As the values of the reduction of the individual room modes by Konfig are generally set too high, I reduce the "dips" step by step in Konfig and listen to the same place with the tone generator again and again.
After each step I perform the bass shelf, so that the curve line between room modes approaches the "0 db line".
If the problem can not be solved at certain frequencies, I use the custom filters.

The intermediate result, what I have achieved now, is for me the actual starting point of the optimisation. It shows, so to speak, the smooth frequency response for sinus tones at the listening position.
Now I turn off Songcast and go back to the DSM.
I listen to the same piece of music again with SO switched off (Volume 60 - 70) to get used to the musicflow again.
I turn SO on again and notice that the result is still not as musical as with SO off.
Now I halve all values of my tried out "dips", that's mostly improves the result. Then I refine the steps further and adjust the bass always so that the curve line between room modes approaches the "0 db line".
Meanwhile, the difference between SO on and off becomes very minimal.
Now I choose a piece of music with deep bass and refine the lower 2-3 room modes a bit.
I always compare with and without SO. So you can get a musical result without booming in the low bass.

It takes about 3 - 4 hours for the first try.

Here is an example of a result:
If you compare the calculated SO (gray line) with the result (yellow line), you see that it is a “minimal” SO.
- - -
And if the speakers don’t produce a very low bass or if the room has a special shape, the result is sometimes best without SO!

Hi, I recently changed from Urika 1 to Urika 2 after the follwoing demo:
At Dealer in Abubarik Exakt system: His set up with Kore, Ekos SE/1, Krystal and Urika 2, was signifficantly more musical, engaging, tuneful etc than my: Keel, Ekos2, Kandid and Urika 1.
I added both the Ekos SE/1 and Urika 1 in one pacakge as I got a decent trade inn for my Urika 1 and Ekos 2. Very happy in my home system (Akubarik, AKurate Exaktbox, 2xM6100 (not fully capable for the Akubarik).

Regarding digitalization, a mate of mine who has analogue active Akubarik changed from AKurate Kontroll to the latest DSM (with Kat) and this - even if it digitizes the signal for a short stage was an improvement. Swapping from Uphoring to Urika 2 (Edit: Typo in first revision, wrote 1 by mistake. Should be Urika 2) afterwards also added lots more.

I also run without SO on my system vut have hear that the V2 of SO finally can perform so hence eger to try it for Exakt when it comes awailable next year.

To sum up: Urika 2 is a very large improvement over Urika 1, and the possibility to adjust it is more than a bonus.

Øyvind I wrote: ↑2018-12-19 11:03 Urika 2 is a very large improvement over Urika 1

I don't see how you can make that statement, as the comparisons involved several different changes simultaneously. You may well be right, in the context of your exakt system, but the evaluation process appears compromised.

In the early 2017, I was at my dealer and tried for a couple of hours my LP12 into a properly set entry level Exakt system (MDSM/2, MExaktbox-I and M140) and I was impressed but ... it was digital.

If I would maximize my digital source, I'd invest on a KDS/3 or a ND555.

A digitalized vinyl is not my cup of tea.

M.

Ron The Mon wrote: ↑2018-12-19 04:42
The worst I have ever heard my LP12 in 34 years was when it was once played through an Exakt 350 system.

Ron The Mon
Needle-Freak

I'm not surprised. I had a pair of 350Ps on home dem for a week when I had a passive system with Solos.

Compared with my existing 242s, and the AkubarikPs I bought to replace them, the 350s were awful - completely disjointed and un-involving.

This was pre-Exakt, but I don't think conclusions about Exakt can safely be drawn on the experience of 350s.

Matteo wrote: ↑2018-12-19 12:16 In the early 2017, I was at my dealer and tried for a couple of hours my LP12 into a properly set entry level Exakt system (MDSM/2, MExaktbox-I and M140) and I was impressed but ... it was digital.
A digitalized vinyl is not my cup of tea.

M.

That's fine, your choice.

Before committing to Exakt, I was extremely wary of compromising my LP12's analogue character. My experience in practice, however, has been that there is nothing obviously 'digital' about either Exakt (compared with non-Exakt) or Urika II (compared with Urika).

I have a number of identical recordings in analogue and digital formats. Vinyl is more musical and involving in virtually all cases. It may be counter-intuitive, but Exakt does not detract from this superiority.

I'm sure other LP12 Exaktists will say the same :)

David Neel wrote: ↑2018-12-19 11:32

Øyvind I wrote: ↑2018-12-19 11:03 Urika 2 is a very large improvement over Urika 1

I don't see how you can make that statement, as the comparisons involved several different changes simultaneously. You may well be right, in the context of your exakt system, but the evaluation process appears compromised.

See you point but I've compared the other changes separately like Kore to Keel, Krystal to Kandid. The only direct unknown comparison for me being in-between Ekos 2 and Ekos SE (which I've seen reported to be well worth). Likewise, in my mates system; Difference between Urika 1 and Uphorik was relatively minor - at least to when upgrading to Urika 2.
(Side comment: for original ADSM I preferred the analogue pre-amp to the digital version with the at that stage available technology)

anachronid wrote: ↑2018-12-17 15:34 I thought the UII a definite improvement compared to the Urika (with Chord Sarum Super Aray) in my all-Exakt Akubarik system with KEDSM.

There may be more Exaktists lurking around here than Sunbeamgls thinks :)

They seem to be painfully shy on here :D

anachronid wrote: ↑2018-12-19 17:03

Ron The Mon wrote: ↑2018-12-19 04:42
The worst I have ever heard my LP12 in 34 years was when it was once played through an Exakt 350 system.

Ron The Mon
Needle-Freak

I'm not surprised. I had a pair of 350Ps on home dem for a week when I had a passive system with Solos.

Compared with my existing 242s, and the AkubarikPs I bought to replace them, the 350s were awful - completely disjointed and un-involving.

This was pre-Exakt, but I don't think conclusions about Exakt can safely be drawn on the experience of 350s.

Agreed

There is a clear split on this thread almost evenly between for and against.

I wonder what is driving this, and how much of it is down to system, room and, possibly most importantly, system set up and SO configuration?

Also, how many of these comparisons were made without knowing which solution was in use at the time? Which was A and which was B should, ideally, be unknown, to get the fairest result.